For 34 years, Ed Mills was primarily “the science guy” when it came to Oneida Lake.

He retired in 2009 as director of the Cornell Biological Field Station at Shackelton Point in Bridgeport, a facility that has been monitoring the lake’s fishery and overall ecology since 1956. During his career, Mills was also a Cornell University professor, a nationally recognized expert in invasive species and a member of the Great Lakes Research Consortium, among other things.

During his last few years at the field station, though, he said he began considering “the human aspect” when it came to the lake. He joined the board of directors of the Oneida Lake Association, a 3,000-member lobbying group made up of property owners, business owners, anglers and anyone else interested in the lake’s issues and future.

His involvement and expertise was appreciated. Mills, 64, of Canastota, recently became the association’s president. In his new position, he concedes that science and facts alone are not enough to make things happen when it comes to the lake.

“I have learned through the years that public policy has interesting twists and turns and sometimes has a very complicated evolution,” he said. “Ideally, public policy is formulated by a number of factors including scientific evidence, economic/social impact, stakeholder (constituent) impact and political will.”

Mills talked last week about a variety of issues confronting Oneida Lake, including the threat of invasive species, the push for year-round bass fishing, cormorant harassment and the need for the public to be better educated on lake-related issues.

Why is the lake important to Central New York?
It’s a big economic engine for the area. If you look at the number of jobs it generates, the recreational part, the restaurants, the gas sold — it’s some big numbers, dollar-wise.

You’re an expert on invasive species. What worries you the most these days when it comes to Oneida Lake?
The lake seems to be accumulating bad actors. At some point, they’re going to change the system. Some have already, such as zebra and aquaga mussels. Right now we’re watching the lake’s alewive (a baitfish) population. There’s some in there, but not many. They eat the larvae of walleye and perch.

What makes matters worse with all these things is that the lake is connected to the Great Lakes and other local inland bodies of water through the rivers and the state canal system.

What about round gobies?Gobies have been found in Onondaga Lake and in parts of the Oswego River system. Frankly, I would have predicted they would have been in Oneida Lake by now. Will they be a benefit or not to the lake? It’s a question mark.

The state DEC and local Bassmasters groups have called for year-round bass fishing on Oneida (catch and release in the off-season). The OLA has consistently opposed this — thus, the rule that anglers can’t fish for bass until after May 1 when the walleye season opens. What’s your opinion?
The association’s board of directors is the driving force behind this. I have one voice to 20 other voices. The biological impact of opening up bass fishing year-round on the lake’s bass population would be little or none. However, this is an instance where you have to pay attention to the weight of the human side of things. We have to listen to that. Traditionally, walleye fishing is one of the big money makers for the lake. Protection of that resource is critical.

There would be little economic impact to (opening up bass season year-round). The time we’re talking about (after the ice melts) is a short window of time. I have to weigh in on the fact that (prior to May 1) is a critical time for the spawning of walleyes. They’re the most vulnerable then.

We also have to look at the law enforcement side. With more boats out there during the walleye spawning run, it would make it difficult to deal with (the poaching) issue.

Cormorant harassment has been controversial. Talk about the way former Rep. Daniel Maffei and current Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle have dealt with seeking federal funding. Buerkle recently got funding for it put back into the House’s version of the U.S. Agriculture budget, but it’s uncertain whether it will remain.
Any lawmaker should try to sit down and listen to where his or her constituents are coming from. Ask the right questions. When it came to cormorant harassment, Buerkle sat down with us and asked, “What’s the evidence, what’s the long-term impact, what’s the solution?”

Maffei and his office did not reach out. While in office, he attended one of our functions and mumbled something about working on the issue and following through. He had the opportunity to show at federal budget hearings (on cormorant harassment funding) and he didn’t show.

He ended up irritating a lot of people. It probably cost him the election. I don’t know if he really understood what Oneida Lake was all about and its importance to the region.

You mentioned putting an emphasis on educating people more about the lake’s issues. How would you do that?
One idea I’ve toyed around with is something I used in my classroom at Cornell. I came up with a scorecard for Cayuga Lake, looking at the environmental and social aspects of Cayuga Lake. I had students go to the ag folks, the vineyard people, the sewage treatment plants to see what was going on in regard to controlling nutrients that find their way into the lake. I’d like to develop something like that for Oneida Lake.

And there are other things we have little or no information on, such as how many dollars are actually being spent on the environmental aspects of the lake. And how much do we spend on law enforcement? Also, getting a sense of development around the lake. We have to explore such things and keep it simple so John Doe can understand them.

What’s the one thing that would surprise people about you?
I have purebred Suffolk sheep. I’m showing some at this year’s state fair, and I recently took a couple of animals out to the Indiana State Fair.